About ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Highlights
Latest
Space in Member States
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Spain
Estonia
Finland
France
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
The Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Czechia
Romania
United Kingdom
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland
Science & Exploration
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicAstronauts
Latest
Enabling & Support
Making space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicLatest
Towards a space transportation ecosystem
On Earth, raw materials and finished goods move from source to destination with the help of a highly developed logistics network. ESA believes the same will be true in space in the future – made possible by a new generation of reusable launchers, in-space delivery vehicles and orbiting fuel depots.
For those vehicles to work together in space, they will need a set of standard interfaces that allow them to rendezvous, transfer payloads, dock and refuel in orbit. Standard interfaces will make it easier for new vehicles to be developed and join the network. ESA believes this system should establish a European standard, so that the transportation network can operate independently of support from outside of Europe.
Helping the European private sector to develop such technological building blocks is an important focus of ESA's Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP). Indeed, ESA's vision for its own transformation is to become one client among many of an independent and impactful European space industry. In this model, ESA – often working through FLPP – acts as a key enabler.
